Ventilation system for a room

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a ventilation system for a room which comprises a hood for domestic use located in said room, a wall fan located in said room, a plurality of transducers configured to detect a respective plurality of characteristic parameters of the gases in said room; processing and control means in signal communication with said plurality of transducers and in signal communication with said first control means, processing and control means electrically connected with said plurality of transducers and in signal communication with said first control means, said processing and control means comprising firmware configured to process said detected characteristic parameters and to transmit a first control signal to control said hood for domestic use. The characterizing feature is that said hood for domestic use is in signal communication with said wall fan via a first transmitter module, located in said hood, and configured to transmit a second signal, said wall fan comprising a first receiver module configured to receive said second signal; said second radio frequency signal being generated by said hood according to said first signal to instruct said second control means to turn on said wall fan and keep it in this state for a first predetermined ON-time when one or more of said characteristic parameters detected by said plurality of sensors exceed respective predetermined threshold values.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a ventilation system for a room asdefined in the preamble of claim 1.

BACKGROUND ART

Hoods can be divided into two large classes: filter hoods and extractorhoods.

As compared with filter hoods, extractor hoods have the characteristicof exhausting gases from the room in which the hood is installed.

Particularly, in extractor hood designs, air is extracted by an electricfan located above the cooktop, flows through a filter system and isfinally exhausted out of the room through a duct.

Nevertheless, these extractor hoods may not always be installed inexisting rooms, as they may require masonry works for gas exhaust ductinstallation.

In view of obviating this drawback, filter hoods exist in the art whichhave achieved satisfactory filtering efficiency, but do not provide thegas treatment results that may be achieved with extractor hoods.

Wall fans are also known, i.e. those types of fans that can extractgases from a room and exhaust them outside.

Particularly, these wall fans include an electric motor that drives animpeller such that air is exhausted out of the room through a duct thatextends through the thickness of the wall or the thickness of a windowpane or the like.

These wall fans require low-impact masonry works, that may be easilycarried out by unskilled personnel.

Furthermore, the extraction efficiency of these fans is comparable tothat obtained by an extractor hood.

Nevertheless, hoods and fans as described above are stand-alone devices,i.e. designed for autonomous operation.

Therefore, the user is required to learn the operation of two distinctapparatuses, and control two devices according to particularrequirements, which will involve obvious and imaginable consequences.

One object of the present invention is to provide a ventilation systemfor a room, such as a kitchen, that allows efficient filtering of thesubstances contained in the gases derived from preparation/cooking offood and the like.

One task of the present invention is to provide a ventilation system fora room that does not require costly masonry works for installation.

Another task of the present invention is to provide a ventilation systemfor a room that has a low cost and may be easily used by the user.

According to the present invention, these and other objects, as betterunderstood hereinafter, are achieved by a ventilation system for a roomthat has the characteristic of comprising a filter hood and a wall fanas defined by the features of claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures show exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure by way of illustration and without limitation, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the ventilation system for a roomaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the ventilation system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the accompanying figures, the present disclosure relates toa ventilation system 1 for a room 2, comprising a hood for domestic use3, preferably a filter hood, located in the room, and a wall fan 4, alsolocated in such room.

The room 2 may be, for example, the kitchen of a home or a public space,such as a coffee bar, a restaurant, and the like.

As used herein, the term filter hood 3 will designate an apparatushaving a frame that contains the devices required for:

-   -   extracting the gases in the room,    -   filtering them and    -   reintroducing them into the room, once they have been filtered.

Particularly, the filter hood 3 comprises control means 3A that aresuitably controlled to change the operating state of the filter hood 3.

For example, the control means 3A may actuate particular features of thehood 3 and/or switch from an ON state (in which the hood extracts gases,filters them and reintroduces them into the room, once they have beenfiltered) to an OFF state, or vice versa.

For example the control means 3A consist of an electrically controllableswitch.

Otherwise, the switch may be manually controlled.

As used herein, the term wall fan 4 will designate an apparatus having aframe that contains the devices required for:

- extracting the gases in the room,

- exhausting them out of the room through an appropriate exhaust ductwhich extends, for instance, through the thickness of a perimeter wallof the room 2 or a window pane or the like of the room 2.

Particularly, the wall fan 4 comprises control means 4A that aresuitably controlled to change the operating state of the fan 4.

For example, the control means 4A are configured to switch the fan 4from an ON state (in which the fan extracts gases from the room 2 andexhausts them out of the room 2, or vice versa) to an OFF state or viceversa.

For example the control means 4A consist of an electrically controllableswitch.

It shall be noted that the wall fan 4 may also be of reversible type,i.e. adapted to withdraw air from outside and introduce it into the room2.

In case of reversible operation, an appropriate filter 4B is provided tofilter the incoming air, e.g, a HEPA.

The ventilation system 1 comprises a plurality of transducers 5, whichare configured to detect a respective plurality of characteristicparameters of gases in said room 2.

For example, the plurality of transducers 5 comprises transducers (orsensors) able to detect temperature, humidity, smoke, odors and thelike.

These transducers are of known type and will not be described in detail.

The ventilation system 1 comprises processing and control means 6, whichare in signal communication with the plurality of transducers 5.

Preferably, the processing and control means 6 are electricallyconnected with the plurality of transducers 5, e.g. by means of a cableconnection.

For example, the processing and control means 6 consist of an electronicprocessing device such as a microcontroller.

The processing and control means 6 comprise a memory 6A which containsfirmware.

The firmware comprises one or more algorithms, i.e. sequences ofoperations coded by an appropriate program code and developed toaccomplish particular tasks, as described in greater detail below.

These processing and control means 6 are configured to receive thevalues of the plurality of characteristic parameters as detected by theplurality of transducers 5 and to process such values to determinewhether the hood 3 only, the fan 4 only or both have to be actuated, andthe operating time of the fan 4 and/or the hood 3.

The processing and control means 6 are also in signal communication viaan electric signal S1 that can be transmitted via cable or radiofrequency using the control means 3A of the hood 3.

Particularly, the algorithms implemented in the firmware allow thevalues of the characteristic parameters as detected by the transducers 5to be assessed against appropriate threshold values Vth. This comparisonprovides ON-times (or ON-time intervals) for the fan 4 and/or the hood3.

For this purpose, the hood 3 is in signal communication with the wallfan 4 via a cable or radio frequency transmitter module 3B included insuch hood 3, and configured to transmit a signal S2 via cable or radiofrequency.

Advantageously, the wall fan 4 comprises a first cable or radiofrequency receiver module 4C, which is configured to receive the cablesignal S2 or the radio frequency signal S2 generated by the transmittermodule 3B of the hood 3.

The cable or radio frequency signal S2 is particularly generated by thehood 3 to control the control means 4A when one or more of saidcharacteristic parameters as detected by the transducers 5 exceed arespective predetermined threshold value Vth.

In other words, the signal S2 is generated according to the informationcontents in the signal S1 generated by the processing and control means6.

Therefore, the signal S2 is representative of the ON/OFF information forthe fan 4 and the information about the ON-time interval T1 for the wallfan 4 and/or the hood 3.

It shall be noted that the ON-time T1 for the fan 4 is determined by theprocessing and control means 6, which process the values detected by thetransducers 5.

In other words, when the transducers 5 assess that one or morecharacteristic parameters exceed respective threshold values, theprocessing and control means 6, based on firmware algorithms, actuatethe control means 3A, which in turn instruct the transmitter module ofthe hood 3 to emit the signal S2. This signal S2 is received by thereceiver means 4C of the fan 4, such that the control means 4A switchthe fan 4 on for the time period T1. For example, if the transducersdetect odors, the processing and control means 6, based on firmwarealgorithms, determine the ON-time interval for the fan 4 and instruct toturn on the control means 3A of the hood 3. The latter instruct in turnthe transmitter module of the hood 3 to emit the signal S2. This signalS2 is received by the receiver means 4C of the fan 4, such that thecontrol means 4A switch the fan 4 on for the time period T1.

When the value/s detected by the transducers 5 fall back below theirrespective predetermined threshold values, the control means 6 instructthe control means 3A of the hood 3 to emit the signal S2 to turn off thefan 4.

However, when the values of the characteristic parameters as detected bythe transducers 5 (such as odors, odors and smoke, or smoke andtemperature, or any combination of smoke, odor and temperature) exceedone or more of their respective threshold values, in addition to turningon the fan 4, the firmware of the control means 6 may also instruct thecontrol means 3A to turn on the filter hood 3 and keep it in this statefor a predetermined ON-time T2.

By this arrangement, the filter hood 3 and the wall fan 4 will jointheir filtration and extraction features for maximized operationalefficiency in terms of comfort, consumption and air quality.

Once again the ON-time T2 is determined by the processing and controlmeans 6, which process the values detected by the transducers 5.

It shall be noted that the ON-time T1 for the fan 4 may differ induration from the ON-time T2 for the hood 3.

Advantageously, with the present ventilation system, the hood 3 will actas a hub or handling center for the ON/OFF signals for the fan 4 and/orthe hood.

Furthermore, with the present ventilation system, the user is notrequired to separately control the filter hood 3 and the wall fan 4 forfiltration and extraction of the gases in the room 2, but either or both(i.e. the fan 4 only, the filter hood 3 only or both the hood 3 and thefan 4) will be actuated for respective predetermined intervals T1, T2according to the particular conditions of the gases in the room 2, asdetected by the transducers 5

According to preferred embodiments, one, more or all of the plurality oftransducers 5 may be placed outside and/or inside the hood 3, the wallfan 4 and/or the processing and control means 6, which means that theymay be placed remote from and/or incorporated in each respective frameof the fan 4, the hood 3 or the processing and control means 6.

The processing and control means 6, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, may bealso disposed as a remote or built-in device relative to the frames ofthe hood 3, the fan 4 and/or a cooktop 7.

If the processing and control means 6 are placed remote from the frameof the hood 3, then these processing and control means 6 may comprise aradio frequency transmitter module 6B which is configured to transmitthe signal S1, i.e. a radio frequency signal, to the control means 3A ofthe hood 3.

For this purpose the hood 3 comprises a radio frequency receiver module3C, which is configured to receive such second radio frequency signalS1.

This radio frequency signal S1 is always generated by the processing andcontrol means 6 to control the change of the operating states of thehood 3 when one or more of said detected characteristic parametersexceed respective predetermined threshold values.

According to a preferred embodiment, the radio frequency transmittermodules 3B, 3C, 4B and 6B comply with the specifications of Bluetooth,IR, Zigbee standards or the like.

Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number ofchanges and variants may be made to the arrangements as describedhereinbefore to meet incidental and specific needs. All of thesevariants and changes fall within scope of the invention, as defined inthe following claims.

1. A ventilation system for a room comprising: a hood for domestic uselocated in said room and having first control means; a wall fan locatedin said room and having second control means; a plurality of transducersconfigured to detect a respective plurality of characteristic parametersof the gases in said room; processing and control means electricallyconnected with said plurality of transducers and in signal communicationwith said first control means, said processing and control meanscomprising firmware configured to process said characteristic parametersdetected by one or more of said plurality of transducers and to transmita first control signal to control said filter hood; wherein: said hoodfor domestic use is in signal communication with said wall fan via afirst transmitter module, located in said hood, and configured totransmit a second signal, said wall fan comprising a first receivermodule, located in said wall fan, and configured to receive said secondsignal; and said second signal being generated by said hood according tosaid first signal to instruct said second control means to turn on saidwall fan and keep it in this state for a first predetermined ON-timewhen one or more of said characteristic parameters detected by saidplurality of sensors exceed respective predetermined threshold values.2. A ventilation system for a room as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidfirst signal also instructs to turn on said hood for domestic use andkeeps it in said ON-state for a second predetermined ON-time accordingto said first signal.
 3. A ventilation system for a room as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said first transmitter module is a radio frequencytransmitter module and said first receiver module is a radio frequencyreceiver module.
 4. A ventilation system for a room as claimed in claim1, wherein said processing and control means comprise a second radiofrequency transmitter module configured to transmit said first radiofrequency signal to the first control means of said hood, the lattercomprising a second radio frequency receiver module configured toreceive said first radio frequency signal, said second radio frequencysignal being generated by said processing means to turn on said firstcontrol means when one or more of said detected characteristicparameters exceed respective predetermined threshold values.
 5. Aventilation system for a room as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidprocessing and control means are external to said hood for domestic useand/or said wall fan.
 6. A ventilation system for a room as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said processing and control means are incorporated insaid hood for domestic use and/or said wall fan.
 7. A ventilation systemfor a room as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of transducersare external to said hood, said wall fan, and/or said processing andcontrol means.
 8. A ventilation system for a room as claimed in claim 1,wherein one or more of said plurality of transducers are incorporated insaid hood for domestic use, said wall fan and/or said processing andcontrol means.
 9. A ventilation system for a room as claimed in claim 1,wherein said first and second radio-frequency transmitter modules andsaid first and second radio-frequency receiver modules comply withBluetooth, IR or Zigbee specifications.
 10. A ventilation system for aroom as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of transducers areselected from the group of smoke-, odor-, temperature-sensingtransducers.
 11. A ventilation system for a room as claimed in claim 1,wherein said hood for domestic use is a filter hood.